InterDigital Applauds Launch Of Halcyon Principles

Posted by InterDigital

InterDigital, a mobile and video technology research and development company, today announced its praise for the release of the Halcyon Principles, a set of guidelines for the ethical development of modern digital technologies. InterDigital served as the principal sponsor of the new industry-focused best practices, presented by Halcyon to help guide digital technology companies in building trust among stakeholders and continuity across industries around intelligent technologies.

The Halcyon Principles were developed as the result of a two-day dialogue with leaders from across the U.S. government, industry, civil society, academics, and think tanks to create a set of guidelines to help maximize the societal benefits and mitigate any risks associated with the deployment of integrated digital technologies. The principles outline four steps digital technology companies of any size and at any stage of business development can use to engage in the creation and deployment of connected intelligent technologies, while addressing privacy, competition, and other concerns. Namely, the principles offer important guidance around performance accountability, consumer safety, privacy and security, ensuring positive benefits to society, and interoperability and competitiveness.

“We are excited to welcome the new Halcyon Principles, which should help guide the ethical development of some of our industry’s most beneficial and highly anticipated digital technologies,” said Rob Stien, Vice President of Government Affairs at InterDigital. “As our innovations evolve and our technological capabilities expand to include AI and machine learning, edge and cloud computing, 5G networks, and beyond, we need clear and collaborative guidance to ensure the benefits of this growth are understood and broadly shared. We’re honored to sponsor this vital initiative, which we believe will encourage ethical policies around the development of intelligent technologies by businesses across the industry, including our own.”

Halcyon, the organization responsible for convening the dialogue, is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit dedicated to lifting up people and ideas that drive the world forward. Halcyon has previously hosted dialogues on topics like the futures of robotics, food, and transportation, and is the home of the Halcyon Incubator for social enterprise ventures.

“The public has legitimate questions about privacy, transparency, and accountability when it comes to intelligent technologies,” said Halcyon Chief Operating Officer Josh Mandell. “We convened this dialogue to help identify a middle ground that could give consumers the clarity and security they want, while recognizing the speed of innovation in this field.”

The Halcyon Principles will be released as part of the 16^th State of the Net Conference, an annual internet policy forum dedicated to fostering a dialogue on the internet ecosystem’s most pressing policy issues. The conference, hosted by the Internet Education Foundation, features perspectives from Congressional staff, policy makers, and tech industry leaders.―CT Bureau